Sunset
by Light-and-Smoke
Summary: A collection of drabbles about Klaus and Caroline and their journey together, set both pre- and post-Sunlight.
1. Midnight Conversations

Klaus woke up as the bed shifted slightly. Caroline froze where she was just about to slide out of the sheets and blinked at him.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?"

Klaus made a muffled noise that Caroline would call adorable…if she didn't already know that he would _not_ take kindly to being called adorable. She continued to slowly move herself out of bed, but Klaus' hand shot out and latched onto her wrist, making her pause.

"Go back to sleep." She murmured.

"Why don't you?" He retorted gruffly.

"I can't." Caroline huffed. "I've tried."

"I'll find a way to tire you." His words would usually send a thrill running through her, but the sleepy edge to his voice made her smile fondly.

"I don't think you have the energy, Nik." She leaned over and placed a soft kiss on the skin covering his shoulder blade. "Go back to sleep." Caroline moved away again, but Klaus used the grip he still kept on her wrist to pull her back onto the bed, rolling so she was swung to the other side of the bed he had previously occupied. She lay on her back and made a growl of complaint even as he tucked the sheets sweetly around her. Klaus lay back down on his stomach and draped his arm across Caroline's middle, firmly anchoring her to his side. She would have attempted to make another get away…but his side of the bed was so warm…and smelt like him…

"Don't expect me to sleep, then." She said, and he chuckled, his warm breath moving her hair.

"Fine then, sweetheart. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing." Caroline said, gasping when his fingers poked her side. "Silly things, then. Silly things are on my mind."

"Tell me about them."

She rolled her eyes. "You'll fall asleep."

He opened his eyes and silently stared at her until she turned her head to meet his gaze. "Okay, fine, you won't fall asleep." Caroline conceded. "I had a dream."

"Go on."

"A dream where I couldn't find you, and when I did, something wasn't right. And then suddenly you morphed into someone else."

That woke him up a little more. "Who did I morph into?"

"No one I knew or recognised. But that wasn't the important aspect of the dream. The focus was more on the fact that you were someone else." Caroline could feel his eyes trying to burn their way into her soul, and she sighed. "I don't believe it for a second. Its just some left over imagination from the movie." They had watched the remake of Total Recall at Caroline's insistence – she was educating Klaus in modern movies as he educated her in classics. The idea of someone you thought was your partner turning out to be your enemy had stuck with Caroline.

"Would you be able to tell if an actor, a _really_ _good_ actor, replaced me?" She asked in a rush, turning her head and meeting Klaus' gaze again.

The moonlight illuminating his face showed his raised eyebrow. "You mean would I be able to tell that something was amiss when you didn't try and pour the entire bag of sugar into your morning coffee, or absent-mindedly hum 'A Little Fall Of Rain' when it started raining outside? Yes, I'd be able to tell."

"Even if that actress…Candice whats-her-name…even if she switched places with me? And I told her all of my bad habits?"

"Those aren't bad habits, sweetheart."

"_Klaus_."

"Even with all of that, I would know. Because no one is like you."

He expected her to smile and sigh and fall asleep. Instead, she rolled her eyes and looked at him expectantly.

Klaus heaved a sigh. "Fine. There is no way she would smell the way you do – like flowers baking in the summer sun. There is no way that she would react the way you do when I kiss you, or make that small sighing sound when I bite your lip. There is no way that she would manage to know how to brighten my dark life. But most importantly, there is no way that she would get a chance to switch places with you without me knowing because I plan to be by your side for eternity." He eyed her levelly. "Got that, love?"

Caroline smiled sleepily, tilting her head to press a soft kiss against his lips. "Thank you." She murmured, before sighing. "Goodnight." She closed her eyes and snuggled slightly into his side.

Klaus smiled, pressing his face to her hair and inhaling the scent he had just described. Then he paused.

"Caroline,"

"Mmm?"

"I'm awake now."

"Go back to sleep, then."

"I cant."

"Mmm."

Klaus scowled. She had got him in this predicament. But she looked so peaceful settling down to sleep. But he had been perfectly tired. He slowly stroked her side, earning a sigh and flutter open of her sky blue eyes.

"Alright, I'm awake."

They lay in relative silence for a moment before Klaus' sleep-deprived brain kicked into gear.

"Imagine if your last words to me had been 'mmm' as you fell asleep."

"But they weren't." Caroline said softly and slowly.

"But if they had been." Klaus retorted just as quietly.

"Then I would be a terrible lover, now, wouldn't I?"

"What would you want your last words to me be?"

Caroline frowned. "I'm half asleep and you want me to even process that?"

Klaus scraped his teeth across her earlobe, waking her up a little bit more.

"Thank you for everything, especially the sex?"

It was Klaus' turn to roll his eyes and look at her expectantly.

"Okay. Niklaus…you have meant everything to me and will continue to mean everything to me long after I've departed this earth. There may not be a heaven or a hell, but I do believe in reincarnation, and I hope to find you in another life and relive even a fraction of the happiness I have with you every day."

Caroline muffled a squeak as Klaus pressed his mouth urgently against hers in response to her words.

"Realistically, though, it will probably just be your name because it'll most likely happen if someone attacks us." She murmured, slightly breathless when he finally released her lips.

"I will never let anyone take you from me." Klaus vowed in a dark whisper against her temple, and she smiled, her eyes fluttering closed. She opened them again a moment later with a sigh.

"Nik?"

"Yes?"

"Are you tired?"

"A little. Are you?"

"Yes…"

"But you also aren't."

"Yes…"

"Right." He flipped so he hovered over her.

A while later they curled together in freshly tangled sheets, and didn't move or open their eyes again till late morning.

* * *

Hey!

Sorry, this took way too long to start up. But its here now! I'll be posting drabbles of life after the Starlight and Sunlight stories I've written about our favourite ship - Klaroline. If you haven't read the stories, you can certainly read these drabbles without too much trouble, but if you'd like to read them, then check out my profile :)

Reviews and requests are more than welcome :) And keep your eyes peeled for a Valentines Day special in Dappled Sunlight!

xx


	2. Adoration

Klaus opened his eyes to the dark. He lay still in the dimly lit room for a moment, wondering what had woken him. The second he heard the rain on the roof, he knew. He could never stay asleep for long with a storm about to hit. It was like a pre-programmed reaction. Caroline attributed it to his wolf side. He couldn't explain it. All he knew was that he felt some sort of change in the air around him, like a different pressure was keeping everything attached to the earth. It wasn't uncomfortable, just different.

He shifted onto his side, waiting to drop back off to sleep. His eyes settled on Caroline and how she looked awash in the light of the street lamp that spilled in from the foot's worth of window that the blinds didn't cover – Klaus liked to see the clouds and sky from wherever he slept, and Caroline couldn't stand the pitch black anyway.

Klaus' gaze swept across the line of her nose and the shadow of her lashes that rested on her smooth cheeks. The temptation to touch was high, too high. With the most feather light hand, Klaus traced his fingers along Caroline's hairline, the delicate skin under her eyes, the deep curve of her bottom lip.

He loved her.

He loved her to a point of absolute consumption. It coursed through his veins, was traced behind his eyelids. She was laced through the air he breathed, and ran through every thought in his mind, always present. In all of his years, he never knew he could love anyone so thoroughly, so heart wrenchingly. He thought he would never have to worry about such things when he had been told time and time again that he was heartless, incapable of love and unable to feel.

But here he was, so consumed by this woman who lay beside him, her every feature there for him to trace for the rest of eternity, for him to etch into his memory.

And he'd never be able to convey that to her. He'd never be able to tell her just how much she meant, how much her mere existence had changed him. Even if he were able to describe it, to somehow put everything he felt into words, she'd never believe him, too flustered to fully take his words into account.

No. He couldn't tell her.

So he'd do his best to try and show her just how much he loved her from here to eternity.


	3. I'm Learning

While they were traversing the globe, Caroline started attending university lectures at random. She claimed it was so she would know where they would settle down for more than a week or so once they had covered every inch of the globe as she planned. Klaus believed her, but he also had his doubts that it was to remind herself of where she would be if she hadn't been turned and her biology had remained unchanged, human forever – or till death at least.

Regardless, it did not stop his boredom. He was all for learning new things, provided that he was the only one who would know that they were new things to him, but history was something he had quite literally lived through too much of.

But to Caroline, it was fascinating. She went to a lecture on American history in London, and one on 18th Century monarchy in Germany. She listened with avid interest as a professor spoke of 20th Century scientific discoveries in France, and was thankful that she could find a lecture in English when they visited Madrid. She even sat in on a tute on English grammar in Switzerland, and came close to tears in a lecture on Story and Meaning in Japan.

Klaus came along with her to all of them. He grumbled especially in the history ones, stating that he could easily teach her such things.

"You don't have to come along with me, you know." Caroline said in a hushed voice one time, sparing a quick glance at him before returning her gaze to the front where the lecturer was discussing molecular development.

Klaus looked at the boys sitting further down the aisle, noting how they glanced over to Caroline every so often with an expression of hope, and knew that he would never leave her to be preyed upon by such vermin as college boys. She was his, and he couldn't quell the possessive nature within him. And he liked to watch her learn, liked how she proudly would work in aspects of the lecture into their everyday talks, just so she could spout out some factoid that had stayed with her.

They had moved on to Australia and Caroline finally found that Klaus' boredom could be contagious. It wasn't as if the lecture was boring – it was interesting. But there was only so much monotone droning about 19th Century salon music she could take before the warmth of the room provoked heavy eyelids and yawns. She fought to keep her eyes open and her hand written notes even as she slumped down in her chair.

Klaus wouldn't let it go. "I thought that we were going to these so you could learn, not sleep." He murmured, and she dug her elbow half-heartedly into his side.

"Lemme alone." She slurred with a sigh, raising her eyebrows in an attempt to raise her eyelids as well and keep herself awake.

"We can just leave, sweetheart." He encouraged softly.

"Don't…want…to…miss…" Her head drooped down slightly again, and her writing faltered.

Klaus took pity on her. He manoeuvred his left shoulder so it was beneath her head, and removed the pen from her slack grip. Caroline snuggled into his shoulder with another deep sigh, winding her arms around his left arm as if he were a teddy.

She woke up when the lecture finished to a smug Klaus and two pages of notes written in his flawless old-school handwriting.

"Show off." She grumbled.

"You love it."

Caroline wound her left hand through his so their rings were side by side. "You know I do."

* * *

Cause I can totally relate to this and I'm almost about to go back to Uni (last year of my Bachelor degree, hell yeah!)


	4. Dog Training

It all began with a puppy. A silly, adorable, irritating puppy.

Klaus glanced down at the little furball from over the top of his paper. Caroline was out – much as he adored her he could not take another shopping excursion, and they did appreciate the little alone time they had. It made being together that much sweeter. But since the dog's main carer was not in the building, the puppy had latched onto Klaus.

The husky puppy returned Klaus' gaze with adoring dark blue eyes, his tail wagging hopefully. When Klaus attempted to return his gaze to the newspaper he had been reading, the puppy made an irritable noise and bumped his head against the hybrids leg. Klaus looked at the puppy again, torn between amusement and irritation. He swore they should have named the dog after his little brother Kol. It was just as much of a playful nuisance. Surprisingly, there had been enough debate about the name without Kol's name being mentioned.

_"Luka." Caroline had suggested, as they sat in bed during one of their late night chats._

_"Too common." Klaus stated, partially to receive the exaggerated expression of shock from Caroline._

_"Too common?" She repeated incredulously. "Its different without being weird."_

_"How is Fenrir weird?" He asked, and she gave him her famous look, but he continued regardless. "It's the Nordic wolf-god – powerful, fearsome – "_

_"And not something we want if we're going to name our dog."_

_"Why are we doing this again?"_

_"Because I never had a pet and I'd like a chance to take care of something with you that isn't a plant."_

_"We look after Kol and Rebekah."_

_"That's beside the point." Caroline pursed her lips. "Akela? If you're thinking along the lines of a wolf, then that's the name of the wolf in The Jungle Book that leads the pack."_

_Klaus raised his eyebrows at her. "You and I both try to be the alpha already. I don't think we need a dog attempting to do the same."_

_"Fair point." She sighed. "Well then, since you're so obsessed with Norse mythology, are there any other dogs you can think of?"_

_"Skoll? Or Hati?" Klaus mused. "They are the wolves that chase the sun and the moon."_

_"Hati." Caroline mused. "Hati."_

The dog had been named after the wolf that in Klaus' time had been known to chase the moon across the sky for eternity. But no one would be able to guess that from the way the puppy bumbled around the house. Klaus was secretly scared of even the small responsibility of such an animal. Horses could fend for themselves, you simply needed to provide them with food and shelter and they could be taught to walk and run and carry people. Wolves too were fairly independent creatures. But although he knew that the puppy would grow to be a large, wolf-like creature that could take care of itself, he wasn't accustomed to having to take care of such a tiny fragile thing. It had fallen over its own legs the other day, and Klaus' instincts kicked in, making him want to rush over and hold the damned thing. It was irritating. Klaus was the big bad, not the big dad.

Klaus frowned, turning the page of the paper. Hati growled, the sound no bigger or fiercer than a kitten, and Klaus put down the paper to look at the daring little dog. Hati growled at him again, and Klaus growled back, his eyes flashing warningly. He had to give the dog credit; the puppy backed a couple steps away but otherwise stood his ground, little chest puffed out. Klaus contemplated transforming into a wolf just because he could, when Hati bumped his head against Klaus' leg again before impatiently sitting down with restless paws, a move that Caroline called 'feed me now, or else'. Klaus checked the clock and it was indeed the impudent dog's dinner time.

"Don't expect me to do anything about it." Klaus grumbled, sitting back in his chair.

Hati growled and then, when he realised it wouldn't grab Klaus' attention anymore, huffed. Klaus smirked, thinking he had won, until the little devil started howling.

"Alright, alright, I'm going." Klaus said lowly, storming off to the kitchen with Hati hot on his heels. The puppy bumbled around Klaus' feet as the food was prepared, and sat impatiently as the hybrid set it down in front of Hati.

"Good boy," Klaus said fondly before he realised, and shook his head with a scoff. Hati didn't care, already snout deep in his dinner as Klaus strode back to his chair and his paper, intent on finishing the article and starting on the Sudoku. He had only written seven of the numbers in the right boxes before something nudged his leg again.

"What now?" Klaus frowned down at Hati, who wagged his tail furiously once Klaus looked at him. Klaus returned to the paper, and Hati grumbled, tapping his leg again.

Klaus dropped the paper in his lap and snarled at the little husky puppy, his eyes glowing golden. Hati retreated under the gaze of the alpha, going to sit in his designated spot on the pillow they had bought for him.

Klaus had a few more moments of pleasant alone-time in his armchair. He kept an eye on Hati this time, and the dog settled on his dog bed looking reproachfully at Klaus but otherwise making himself comfortable. Klaus was halfway through the Sudoku before he realised that there was a warm body next to his leg that hadn't been there before. He looked down to see that Hati had jumped up into the extra space of the arm chair and curled in a ball with the puppy's back resting against the side of his leg.

"We should have named you Loki." Klaus scoffed, thinking of the sly Norse god. Hati didn't stir, lost in puppy dreams. Klaus let him be, not bothering to move the dog's comforting touch.

When Caroline returned an hour later, she smiled when she saw Klaus with Hati sleeping like a lap dog perched ontop of Klaus' legs. Klaus raised a warning eyebrow at her.

"Not. A. Word."

"I didn't say anything." Caroline grinned. "Want me to move him?"

Klaus didn't get a chance to answer before Hati woke up at the sound of Caroline's voice, sleepily rolling off Klaus in a bid to get to his mistress. He also very nearly fell to the floor, but Klaus' nimble hands caught him and gently placed him on the floor.

"Hey Hati," Caroline murmured, ruffling the husky's thick dark coat while smiling at Klaus. "I'm guessing you're warming up to the idea of having a dog."

"He needs a proper alpha influence." Klaus said sulkily, and Caroline rolled her eyes at his attempt at a jab, kissing Hati between his pricked ears.

"Don't I get a hello too?" Klaus teased, and Caroline jokingly moved to ruffle Klaus' hair, giggling as he caught her hand and pulled her forward to fall into his lap.

"Hello." She murmured, not quite kissing him yet.

"Hello, love." Klaus murmured back against her mouth, catching her bottom lip between his teeth and revelling in the sigh it brought forth from her. Hati grumbled at the loss of attention, jumping up to rest his paws against Klaus' leg for balance. The couple broke apart, much to Klaus' displeasure, and Caroline scratched the puppy between his ears.

"Are you being a nuisance again?" She asked Hati. The dog looked at her like she was the sun, all loving blue eyes and adorable.

"I'm being a nuisance." Klaus murmured as he grazed his stubbled chin down Caroline's neck. She squirmed in response, her movement only causing more trouble as she ground into Klaus' lap. He hissed pleasurably before scooping Caroline up in his arms and walking towards the hallway that lead to their bedroom.

"Hati – "

"Will be here when we're finished. He's been fed, but I'm hungry."

The door closed behind them. Hati retreated to his bed with a little exasperated huff.

* * *

Sorry for the silence...final year of my bachelor, and its already kicking my ass!

Hope you all are having a lovely time wherever you are, and if you haven't already done so, GET A PET. ;)

xx


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